Such Great Heights - a viewer's perspective
After f1renze posted her latest vid, Such Great Heights, and I spoke with her about it afterwards, I realized that I wasn’t getting as much meaning out of my first viewings of vids as I’d have liked, and I thought it would be interesting to write I got from this particular vid. This is a combination of my own interpretations and what I discussed with her. Posted to LJ, because I know that most of my flist saw it - in case anyone’s interested in discussing further (about anything - the vid, its take or my take on B/J, etc). Again, if you haven't seen it and you like B/J in the least, I'd urge you to take the three minutes to watch; it's a heck of an awesome vid.
PS A year ago, I had never heard of what a vid was, and when I discovered the concept, I at first thought of them as nothing more than a way to stick clips to words and allow fans to relive their favorite moments. I want to thank f1renze for letting me glimpse into a world where vids run much deeper than that, capturing the essence of human emotions, themes, and journeys. It means a lot.
Such Great Heights (QAF B/J, PG)
I have two summaries for this vid, both with double meanings. One is Flo’s: “It’s written in the stars” - which evokes thoughts of the B/J relationship as destiny, an idea that emerges as the first major vid theme. It also describes the vid’s start, which flashes the highlights of the B/J relationship, in a manner reminiscent of stars. The second is “stairs to heaven”, which describes (perhaps sappily) the relationship through S1-S3, an uphill, steep progression that leads to a better place than where it started. Further, it is descriptive of the Premiere timeline for part of this vid! (see end of entry)
As we begin the vid, we learn that “it’s written in the stars” is literal: Flo literally uses the stars to “write” (portray) the relationship developing. First, we see shots of Brian and Justin individually, from early S1 scenes featuring both of them. The stars quickly move to show us scenes of them hugging, dancing, having sex - scenes from mid-season 1, as they begin to learn to turn to each other and their relationship deepens. The stars continue on to show the prom and its traumatic aftermath, and another series of clips shows them recovering, together, from the experience. After this, we see them continue into their negotiated relationship - happy and, for a finite time, together. As we move into the arc in which the negotiated relationship dissolves, we again see pictures of them sad, acting singly, and angsty - from Brian’s considering and then rejecting the purchase of flowers - or walking into an empty loft, to Justin’s pensive angsting. The stars conclude at 220, and we move to full screen.
The second theme of this vid is Brian and Justin developing their own, private world that exists even when they are in public. Flo clearly introduces this theme with the B/J full screen eyefuck, interspersing images of Brian and Justin right as the main portion of the vid begins. Even in the back alley behind Babylon, even when they are both tricking with other gay men, they create this world, this space, for themselves - a concept that we return to throughout the vid.
Thus, the main themes introduced and the relationship showcased in the stars, we are ready to move to the heart of the vid.
The primary portion of the vid begins with a clip from the famous 101 scene in which Brian approaches the elegantly-sprawled-across-the-light-pole Justin, tilts his head, and begins to speak. Flo freezes this moment and changes the coloring to black and white for a second, as though to denote that the story is now beginning. And thus, it becomes as though Brian has approached Justin to tell him a story - the story of how their “stairs to heaven” are to unfold.
And so, Brian’s story begins with I am thinking it’s a sign - we see his thoughts on his early simple, touching interactions with Justin - from ice cream kisses, to jambalaya dinner, to kissing that first night, to dancing at Babylon - and more. True, Brian says, it may seem like a stretch - based on his words and some of his actions, Justin may well not believe right away that Brian and he are corresponding, compatible puzzle pieces - but it’s thoughts like this that catch my troubled head when you’re away, says Brian - even if I can’t verbalize these things, they’re in my mind.
With the words when I am missing you, we see Brian’s and Justin’s connection to each other while separated during early Season 3. Because Brian is narrating, we see moments when he is thinking about Justin out there on the road - as Justin turns to walk away with Ethan; as Brian hopes that Justin will get what he wants; a close-up on Ethan’s ring for Justin, etc. And then, when Brian says through the song, I hope this song will guide you, the implied meaning is “back to me”. Although this is solely my interpretation, I think of the words this song as Brian’s 305 double entendre to Justin - “Shouldn’t you be getting back to your boyfriend?” To me, this is in keeping with this verse’s idea of there not being a B/J “breakup” (i.e. full severance) from Brian’s POV, but rather a portion of Justin’s life leading temporarily away, only to guide him back down the road to Brian.
With the first refrain - they will see us waving from such great heights / come down now, they’ll say - we return to the secondary theme I mentioned earlier: Brian and Justin are able to create a magical, private place for themselves, wherever they are - whether dancing at Babylon, together at PRIDE, sharing ice cream, having sex in the loft, at Michael’s/David’s Paris show-and-tell - even where surrounded by people, in these instances, they are near-oblivious to all but each other.
As we move to the next verse, narrator Brian makes an important point. I tried my best to leave this all on your machine / but the persistent beat it sounded thin upon listening - he expresses what many of us already think: he tries to show Justin his feelings through his actions, although his words might not corroborate them - and Justin, at first, has not read far enough into the “Kinney Operating Manual” to find Brian’s action “messages” anything but “thin upon listening”. In 220, he sees Brian with the Rage trick, turns - and walks away. We immediately move to - that, frankly will not fly - Brian confronts Justin, telling him to stand up for himself, rather than to run away when he is not getting what he wants. And the verse finishes with - you will hear the shrillest highs, and lowest lows, with the windows down when this is guiding you home - moments in late Season 3, as Brian and Justin reunite. Most poignant to me are the words when this is guiding you home - earlier in the song, we saw Brian hoping that “this song” would guide Justin home, and now, we see Justin and Brian reuniting in the Lover’s Spit scene to these words.
The next refrain again sees Brian and Justin in their private, self-created world. This time, it is beautiful to see aerial shots of them dancing in Babylon during such great heights and eye-level shots at PRIDE for come down now, they’ll say. The refrain continues with intimate moments of Brian and Justin in the loft, and wraps up with the beautiful “true faith” moment from 314. I guess I’ve lost everything.” “Not everything.” They may be told, come down now by others, but their response remains: we’ll stay - stay together, because so long as they have each other, they have not lost everything.
The final they will see us waving from such great heights showcases three pivotal moments in Brian’s and Justin’s relationship - Justin’s first sexual encounter with Brian in 101; the “then I knew why Debbie calls you Sunshine” moment in 122; the two having slow, healing sex “like the first time?” in 202 - and then, in perhaps its most touching moment, the heart of the vid concludes with Justin running into Brian’s arms, in slow motion with fade.
As the song ends, we come full circle - Brian again approaches Justin in 101, with that confident tilt of his head, and we see the final “star” to indicate that Brian is done telling his tale. The vid concludes by freezing at Brian looking into Justin’s eyes. This is the moment at the start of the “stairs to heaven”, the beginning of Brian’s and Justin’s uphill, yet oh-so-fulfilling and beautiful relationship. In my mind, this vid defines the three formative seasons of their relationship, and gives Brian the words to express what he, on the show, cannot manage to verbalize explicitly.
Brian and Justin. It’s written in the stars.
PS A year ago, I had never heard of what a vid was, and when I discovered the concept, I at first thought of them as nothing more than a way to stick clips to words and allow fans to relive their favorite moments. I want to thank f1renze for letting me glimpse into a world where vids run much deeper than that, capturing the essence of human emotions, themes, and journeys. It means a lot.
Such Great Heights (QAF B/J, PG)
I have two summaries for this vid, both with double meanings. One is Flo’s: “It’s written in the stars” - which evokes thoughts of the B/J relationship as destiny, an idea that emerges as the first major vid theme. It also describes the vid’s start, which flashes the highlights of the B/J relationship, in a manner reminiscent of stars. The second is “stairs to heaven”, which describes (perhaps sappily) the relationship through S1-S3, an uphill, steep progression that leads to a better place than where it started. Further, it is descriptive of the Premiere timeline for part of this vid! (see end of entry)
As we begin the vid, we learn that “it’s written in the stars” is literal: Flo literally uses the stars to “write” (portray) the relationship developing. First, we see shots of Brian and Justin individually, from early S1 scenes featuring both of them. The stars quickly move to show us scenes of them hugging, dancing, having sex - scenes from mid-season 1, as they begin to learn to turn to each other and their relationship deepens. The stars continue on to show the prom and its traumatic aftermath, and another series of clips shows them recovering, together, from the experience. After this, we see them continue into their negotiated relationship - happy and, for a finite time, together. As we move into the arc in which the negotiated relationship dissolves, we again see pictures of them sad, acting singly, and angsty - from Brian’s considering and then rejecting the purchase of flowers - or walking into an empty loft, to Justin’s pensive angsting. The stars conclude at 220, and we move to full screen.
The second theme of this vid is Brian and Justin developing their own, private world that exists even when they are in public. Flo clearly introduces this theme with the B/J full screen eyefuck, interspersing images of Brian and Justin right as the main portion of the vid begins. Even in the back alley behind Babylon, even when they are both tricking with other gay men, they create this world, this space, for themselves - a concept that we return to throughout the vid.
Thus, the main themes introduced and the relationship showcased in the stars, we are ready to move to the heart of the vid.
The primary portion of the vid begins with a clip from the famous 101 scene in which Brian approaches the elegantly-sprawled-across-the-light-pole Justin, tilts his head, and begins to speak. Flo freezes this moment and changes the coloring to black and white for a second, as though to denote that the story is now beginning. And thus, it becomes as though Brian has approached Justin to tell him a story - the story of how their “stairs to heaven” are to unfold.
And so, Brian’s story begins with I am thinking it’s a sign - we see his thoughts on his early simple, touching interactions with Justin - from ice cream kisses, to jambalaya dinner, to kissing that first night, to dancing at Babylon - and more. True, Brian says, it may seem like a stretch - based on his words and some of his actions, Justin may well not believe right away that Brian and he are corresponding, compatible puzzle pieces - but it’s thoughts like this that catch my troubled head when you’re away, says Brian - even if I can’t verbalize these things, they’re in my mind.
With the words when I am missing you, we see Brian’s and Justin’s connection to each other while separated during early Season 3. Because Brian is narrating, we see moments when he is thinking about Justin out there on the road - as Justin turns to walk away with Ethan; as Brian hopes that Justin will get what he wants; a close-up on Ethan’s ring for Justin, etc. And then, when Brian says through the song, I hope this song will guide you, the implied meaning is “back to me”. Although this is solely my interpretation, I think of the words this song as Brian’s 305 double entendre to Justin - “Shouldn’t you be getting back to your boyfriend?” To me, this is in keeping with this verse’s idea of there not being a B/J “breakup” (i.e. full severance) from Brian’s POV, but rather a portion of Justin’s life leading temporarily away, only to guide him back down the road to Brian.
With the first refrain - they will see us waving from such great heights / come down now, they’ll say - we return to the secondary theme I mentioned earlier: Brian and Justin are able to create a magical, private place for themselves, wherever they are - whether dancing at Babylon, together at PRIDE, sharing ice cream, having sex in the loft, at Michael’s/David’s Paris show-and-tell - even where surrounded by people, in these instances, they are near-oblivious to all but each other.
As we move to the next verse, narrator Brian makes an important point. I tried my best to leave this all on your machine / but the persistent beat it sounded thin upon listening - he expresses what many of us already think: he tries to show Justin his feelings through his actions, although his words might not corroborate them - and Justin, at first, has not read far enough into the “Kinney Operating Manual” to find Brian’s action “messages” anything but “thin upon listening”. In 220, he sees Brian with the Rage trick, turns - and walks away. We immediately move to - that, frankly will not fly - Brian confronts Justin, telling him to stand up for himself, rather than to run away when he is not getting what he wants. And the verse finishes with - you will hear the shrillest highs, and lowest lows, with the windows down when this is guiding you home - moments in late Season 3, as Brian and Justin reunite. Most poignant to me are the words when this is guiding you home - earlier in the song, we saw Brian hoping that “this song” would guide Justin home, and now, we see Justin and Brian reuniting in the Lover’s Spit scene to these words.
The next refrain again sees Brian and Justin in their private, self-created world. This time, it is beautiful to see aerial shots of them dancing in Babylon during such great heights and eye-level shots at PRIDE for come down now, they’ll say. The refrain continues with intimate moments of Brian and Justin in the loft, and wraps up with the beautiful “true faith” moment from 314. I guess I’ve lost everything.” “Not everything.” They may be told, come down now by others, but their response remains: we’ll stay - stay together, because so long as they have each other, they have not lost everything.
The final they will see us waving from such great heights showcases three pivotal moments in Brian’s and Justin’s relationship - Justin’s first sexual encounter with Brian in 101; the “then I knew why Debbie calls you Sunshine” moment in 122; the two having slow, healing sex “like the first time?” in 202 - and then, in perhaps its most touching moment, the heart of the vid concludes with Justin running into Brian’s arms, in slow motion with fade.
As the song ends, we come full circle - Brian again approaches Justin in 101, with that confident tilt of his head, and we see the final “star” to indicate that Brian is done telling his tale. The vid concludes by freezing at Brian looking into Justin’s eyes. This is the moment at the start of the “stairs to heaven”, the beginning of Brian’s and Justin’s uphill, yet oh-so-fulfilling and beautiful relationship. In my mind, this vid defines the three formative seasons of their relationship, and gives Brian the words to express what he, on the show, cannot manage to verbalize explicitly.
Brian and Justin. It’s written in the stars.